Adding Detail Without Adding Triangles

[Rory_L]

Increasing mesh resolution in specific areas of a model will normally introduce triangles at the low res/ high res interface, but if you squeeze a quad poly into your poly loop diagonally you can add two more columns of polygons, without adding any triangles.

Sadly I don`t know any way to do this in Z-Brush. It possibly can be done, using the point welding option in the object import panel creatively, but really this sort of mesh editing is best done in a traditional 3D package.

Hope this helps some people a bit.

Cheers,

R

PolyInsert01.jpg

[darule]

I don't get it :confused:
Any better example?

[Rory_L]

Imagine that the four black polygons are part of an edge loop on the end of your model`s hand. You want to introduce more mesh detail to the hand area without adding triangles. You can do this by inserting a quad poly into the next extruded edge loop, sticking it in on a diagonal, so it looks like a diamond. The next edge loop set of polys you extrude from this new raw edge will have two more columns of polygons than the original (black) loop had.

Any clearer?

R

[LIQUIDSNEEK]

yep makes sense to me ,now just to put it to practice!;)

thanks

[lemonnado]

But you still end up with a three and a five edge pole vertex which can make shading a challenge again.... Quad's around there are most likely not to stay coplanar. Darn triangles.... There is no free lunch....

Yesterday I tried to intersect two cylinders and tried to bevel the intersection to make it look smooth. That's where you end up in polygon hell...

Lemo

[Bas Mazur]

Hahaha, Lemonnado, I know too where polygon hell is :-)

[jbakutis]

I too have had my ass burned by the flames of aforementioned poly-Hell. I doubt it's the last time...

[Bas Mazur]

As far as I know we cannot split a row of polygons without getting a tri. Only after dividing the tri is gone.

[subspark]

Actually, a 5 sided polygon is better than a single triangle. It smooths accurately when subdivided, wheras a triangle produces pinching.


Example:
topolies.gif

[se7enthcin]

if that's the case, why not just keep things quads?

http://www.coldseatproductions.com/examples/quads.jpg

[LY]

Too bad that Zbrush does not support 5 sided polygons - it'll insert an edge and convert it to a quad and a triangle.

Besides, any N-sided polygon can be removed by converting it to N quad polygons and adding some geometry to the entire mesh. The result will be a bit more dense, but in our experience it works quite well. Or a carefully placed triangle also works in some cases.

[Jason Belec]

I've never understood the idea of adding a triangle, when you know it causes issues. Quads are by far more efficient on the whole. I've never been a lover of polys until Zbrush came along and it does such wonderful quads. I would however like to hear explanations on why a triangle is ever necessary. ;)

[Rory_L]

I've never understood the idea of adding a triangle, when you know it causes issues.
Absolutely!:) Which is why I posted this tutorial to show how one can increase local mesh density without introducing the hated triangles. I didn`t invent this procedure; I`m just gratefully passing it on to anyone here who feels it could help them.

R

[subspark]

if that's the case, why not just keep things quads?

Because when your working with a budget of polygons for a low poly model adding 6 rows of polygons may be too much.

The purpose of the excersize as I understood it was to add one extra row of polys at the bottom half.

Cheers,
Paul W.

[se7enthcin]

Because when your working with a budget of polygons for a low poly model adding 6 rows of polygons may be too much.

The purpose of the excersize as I understood it was to add one extra row of polys at the bottom half.

Cheers,
Paul W.I was under the impression that ngons were problematic for animation perposes as well as problems with rendering and striping in videogames so in that case you would use triangles in areas that you can hide.